Has Ugly Betty's Wilhelmina Slater Turned Recessionista?

While Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw has shown no signs of letting go of her designer duds — she has already been spotted in two pairs of Christian Louboutin pumps! — Ugly Betty‘s Wilhelmina Slater, played by Vanessa Williams, looks to be cutting back on spending due to the recession. WWD caught up with the actress at a charity event in Dallas on Tuesday night where she told them, “With the economic situation what it is, we scaled down in terms of the type of clothing that we’re getting.” So what does that mean exactly for the Mode editor-in-chief? “There was a Naeem Kahn dress that went for $3,000, and they watched it and watched and by the time we got it, it was like $800. So we are being mindful of the budget and waiting for markdowns on Ugly Betty,” says Vanessa. Other than shopping sales, Ugly Betty’s costume department is also scooping out the vintage bins. “With the [Thierry] Mugler, which we did a lot last season, we’ve gone through a lot of stuff that is late ’80s, early ’90s, which is fantastic — a lot of stuff I used to wear when I was recording back in the day,” says Vanessa. “So I would have deja vu moments of, ‘Didn’t I wear this on stage already?'” We can’t wait to check out Ugly Betty‘s sure-to-be unique take on recession fashion. The third season will premiere on October 9 on ABC. Tell us: Will you be watching Ugly Betty this season?